Colchicum autumnale

Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox Colchicum autumnale, commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron,<ref name=BSBI07>Template:BSBI 2007</ref> naked boys<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or naked ladies,<ref>A R Clapham, T G Tutin and E F Warburg, Flora of the British Isles, second edition, 1962, p 982</ref> is a toxic autumn-blooming flowering plant that resembles the true crocuses, but is a member of the plant family Colchicaceae, unlike the true crocuses, which belong to the family Iridaceae. It is called "naked boys/ladies" because the flowers emerge from the ground long before the leaves appear.<ref>Gajic. 1977. Glasnik prirodnaučkog museja u Beogradu, Serija B, Bioloake nauke Nauke 32: 8. Colchicum autumnale</ref> Despite the vernacular name of "meadow saffron", this plant is not the source of saffron, which is obtained from the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus – and that plant, too, is sometimes called "autumn crocus".

The species is cultivated as an ornamental in temperate areas, in spite of its toxicity. The cultivar 'Nancy Lindsay' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref name = RHSPF>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DescriptionEdit

This herbaceous perennial has leaves up to Template:Convert long. The flowers are solitary, Template:Convert across, with six tepals and six stamens with orange anthers and three white styles.<ref name="Blamey">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp At the time of fertilisation, the ovary is below ground.<ref name="Webb">Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press. Template:ISBN</ref>

Distribution and habitatEdit

C. autumnale is the only species of its family native to Great Britain and Ireland,<ref>Clive Stace, New Flora of the British Isles 3rd edition 1991, p 855</ref><ref name="Webb"/> with notable populations under the stewardship of the County Wildlife Trusts. It also occurs across mainland Europe from Portugal to Ukraine, and is reportedly naturalised in Sweden, European Russia, and New Zealand.<ref name="Kew">Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Colchicum autumnale </ref> It grows in lowland grassy meadows.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Pharmaceutical usesEdit

The bulb-like corms of C. autumnale contain colchicine, a useful drug with a narrow therapeutic index. Colchicine is approved in many countries for the treatment of gout and familial Mediterranean fever. Colchicine is also used in plant breeding to produce polyploid strains.Template:Citation needed

ToxicityEdit

Colchicum is lethally toxic due to its colchicine content and the leaves have been mistaken by foragers for those of Allium ursinum (ramsons or wild garlic), which they vaguely resemble.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=”Rousseau_2022”>Template:Cite journal</ref>

This plant (and colchicine itself) poses a particular threat to felines. The corms of meadow saffron contain the highest level of toxins, but all parts of the plant are regarded as poisonous.Template:Cn

GalleryEdit

Colchicum autumnale 050505.jpg

Seed capsules
Semen Colchici by Danny S. - 001.JPG

Seeds
Colchicum autumnale at the U.S. Botanic Gardens - Sarah Stierch.jpg

Detail of flower at the United States Botanic Gardens
Colchiques dans les prés.jpg

In a meadow Lauterbourg, (Alsace), France
Colchicum autumnale00.jpg

Colchicum autumnale by Auguste Faguet
Meadow saffron plate no 6 bv73c1191 bk128b698 crop.jpeg

From The Book of Health, 1898, by Henry Munson Lyman

ReferencesEdit

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